A Night Off and a Dress
by CrushingOnSans
Summary: When you're the son of the king, betrothal is, unfortunately, inevitable.
1. The Crown Princess

The crown princess of the Lust kingdom was a wild sort of monster. There wasn't a day that went by that he wasn't skipping out on his studies, wandering through the halls and gardens, or disappearing for hours at a time with no explanation. It was not uncommon to find him shin-deep in the castle pond, shoes and crown nowhere in sight. So when Prince Rouge walked into his brother's daily history lesson to actually find him there, legs crossed casually and looking on the verge of sleep, but still there, he was shocked.

The instructor looked up at his entrance, a warm smile directed to his favorite student as he nodded respectfully. "Your highness. What brings you here today?"

Rouge glanced at his brother before turning his attention back to the instructor. "I only sought the pleasure of your company, but here I find my brother in attendance!" He smiled widely at them. "Tell me, dear brother, are the Royal Gardens out of order?"

Princess Lavender straightened his back, coughing regally before raising one hand and flipping his brother off, much to the chagrin of the instructor. "Princess, you really must learn to show decorum. Your title and position do not come without their own set of-"

Lav sighed deeply, leaning forward and putting his chin in his hands. "I know, I know. It's all a waste of time, in my opinion." He glanced up at his brother, making a face. "Father paid me a visit this morning. Apparently the visitors from Fell are to be arriving today, and 'we must present a good face to our most esteemed guests'."

"Lav, do you think it is wise to mock the king like this?"

"Do you think it is wise to be a fu-"

"Please!" the instructor said loudly, holding up one hand. "Princess, you are excused from the lesson. We were nearly done, and I'm sure that if I asked you, you would already know the material somehow."

Lav jumped out of his seat, stretching until his back gave a satisfying pop and smoothing his skirts. "Well, I'll be off, then, best of luck to the two of you. Study hard ."

Rogue snorted, shaking his head. He knew full well that nothing was going to happen. Rogue tended to stick to a single... diversion .

Lav skipped down the halls of the palace, trying to decide if it was worth the King's anger to skip his next lesson. It was dancing, but the type of dancing he was taught in his classes was next to useless for anything but the god-awful balls that were thrown three or four times a year.

He sighed quietly as he rounded a corner, slowing his footsteps until he was trudging along as though he were in mourning.

It would not be worth the anger. That much was certain. The King had been going nearly mental in his preparations for the arrival of the foreign dignitaries. The entire castle had been scrubbed, top to bottom, until you could nearly see your reflection in every over-polished floor and the bedrooms smelled so strongly of vanilla that the scent was sticking to the clothing of every resident. Lav didn't know for sure why this particular visit was so important, but he had some guesses, and none of them were good.

He reached the door to his room, pushing it open and stepping inside before shutting it solidly behind him. He leaned back against the door for a moment, taking a deep breath and letting his eyes fall shut as he pushed the worrying thoughts out of his mind. He heard footsteps in the adjoining bathroom and immediately smiled, pushing off the door and crossing the room to look through the open doorway..

"Your Princess requires help removing his clothes!"

His manservant jumped violently, evidently not expecting the noise. He spun around to face him, eyes wide before he relaxed, chuckling. "I do believe you have another dance lesson, Your Highness. I don't think this is a good time for-"

Lav snorted. "It's always a good time for it, Cer. But no, I truly do need help. I need to wear my split skirts so that I can actually, you know, dance."

Cer looked him up and down, raising a brow. "You are wearing your split skirts."

Lav looked down, frowning. How had he not noticed? Oh, right. He'd been being yelled at while he was being dressed this morning. That had certainly taken all of the fun out of it.

He glanced back up at the other, grinning slightly. "Can we change me into a different set, by any chance?"

Cer snorted lightly, waving him off in a way that wasn't entirely befitting of a servant. Not that Lav had ever even pretended to care. "If I am correct in my timekeeping, you are going to be late to your class if you attempt the feat of dressing quickly. Especially since you seem entirely incapable of it."

Lav winked. "It would go a lot quicker if someone wasn't distracting me the whole time." All he got in response was an eye-roll, causing him to snicker. "You do not seem to be in disagreement, Cerulean."

"Apparently, you are correct, His Royal Highness Crown Princess Lavender G-"

Lav made a face, holding up one hand. "Let's not play the name game, I beg of you. We'll be here all day."

Cer laughed, the sound making Lav smile softly at him. He truly did love that expression on him. "Well…" he said, sighing in disappointment as he realized the time. "I must be off. I don't suppose…?"

His manservant stepped forward, going on tiptoe to press a kiss to his cheek before backing away, still grinning at him. He waved him off again, shooing him towards the door. "Get out of here before you're late and the King comes to visit again. I will see you later today, after lessons."

Lav was grinning widely from the chaste kiss, allowing himself to be manhandled to the door and stealing another one just before he stepped out, cutting off the other's exclamation of disapproval. He laughed quietly to himself, looking up and down the hallway before he straightened his skirts again, frowning slightly at a stubborn wrinkle.

A servant passed by, looking hurried, before coming to an abrupt stop and spinning around. "Your highness! Why are you not at your lessons?"

Lav frowned, glancing up at the clock that hung in the hallway. "Do I not still have time to-"

"Highness, you were meant to be in your history lesson until one o'clock! The king requires your immediate presence!"

At that, Lav straightened slightly, his worries coming back in full force. "Why does he-"

"The nobles from Fell have arrived, and he requires you and Prince Rogue to accompany him as he greets the guests."

Lav hesitated for a moment, sighing quietly before he gestured for the servant to continue on. "Lead on, good sir."

Out of all of the things required of the royal family, all of the boat launches and speeches and knightings, everything required so many damn formalities . Lav had always hated it, hated the way he had to curtsy or bow or just nod his head depending on the situation and the person he was greeting, how he had to smash the bottle on the ass-end of a boat in exactly the right way or the fucking bottle gods or some shit would rain down hell on the passengers. None of it made any logical sense, and Lust had always been fairly logical.

But Father insisted on it. And what Father said, went. So, standing outside the doors to the throne room, Lav took a deep breath, resisting the urge to smooth his skirts down again. He reached up and knocked three times, as was custom, before opening the door and stepping through, lowering his gaze and bowing deeply to his father.

King W.D. Gaster stood before his dark throne, nodding in return to his son's greeting before turning his attention back to his guests. He looked, for all the world, like his entrance had not disturbed him in the least, but Lav could see the hidden anger in his eyes. He suppressed a sigh. He would have to hear about his lateness later.

Quietly, he crossed the room, taking his place on his father's left side and keeping his gaze turned down so that he wouldn't have to worry about greeting anyone. On Lav's other side, Rogue stood still, a worried look in his eyes that Lav didn't know the reason for. He willed himself not to worry about it, concentrating instead on the conversation.

"Allow me to introduce my oldest son, Princess Lavender."

Lav sighed inwardly. Now he had to greet everyone. He looked up, forcing his brightest smile onto his face, and met the eyes of the dignitary directly in front of him. She had a shock of red hair, a water sprite by the look of her, and wore black armor. She was looking him up and down with disgust, and he forced himself not to glance down at himself and double check that there weren't any large and hairy spiders crawling up the front of his dress.

" This is your oldest son?" She said, anger palatable in her voice. "Princess Lavender?"

The King sighed. "I can assure you that the rumors about my son are not true, at least not to the extent that the common folk exaggerate them."

Lav suppressed a smirk. Several of those rumors had been of his own creation. They had served their purpose thus far, at least. There weren't a lot of kingdoms wishing to marry off their royalty to someone like the person the rumors told him to be.

The red-haired woman scoffed. "Your highness, I mean no offense, but the purity of the Queen determines the purity of the kingdom!"

Lav raised a brow, then looked to his father in a silent request to speak. The king nodded, already looking as though he regretted it even as the action was being performed. Carefully, he turned back to face the woman. "Well, then I suppose I have something in common with my future kingdom."

She scrunched up her brow in confusion. "And what is that, Your Highness?" She said his title with no small air of condescension, and he reigned in his annoyance as best he could.

"We're both completely fuc-"

"Princess!"

Lav turned to his brother, seeing the look on his face and taking the hint. He closed his mouth tightly, straightening his back and looking down on the woman coldly. It wasn't his fault she was being a judgemental bitch.

"Captain, while I do appreciate your concern-" Lav looked towards the voice, noticing the speaker for the first time. He was a skeleton, just like his own family and most of their staff, but there was something harder about him, an edge to his features that was rare in the kingdom of Lust. He stood much taller than him, nearly as tall as Rogue, and his eyelights burned a deep, fiery red. "-I was already aware of the connection. The king and I have already come to the decision to accept your proposal, despite some of the obvious…" his eyes flicked to Lav for a moment, then snapped back to the king. "...drawbacks."

Lav narrowed his eyes. What proposal? And why did it involve him?

The King cleared his throat, nodding in response to the other's words. "Our kingdoms will only grow all the stronger with this union. I personally look forward to furthering preparations, Prince Jade.

Union?

The prince bowed deeply, first to the king, then to Lav and Rogue. "I do hope, princess, that we may get to know each other better very soon." Despite his words, there was an undercurrent of anger in his eyes that made Lav think that he very much didn't want to have these words coming out of his mouth.

Lav curtsied while his brother bowed, his mind whirling as he tried to come up with any explanation besides the obvious one.

"I look forward to strengthening the ties between our kingdoms." he said quietly, hoping that satisfied his requirements.

The king hummed slightly, then said, "If you would, Prince Rogue?"

That look was still in Rogue's eyes, and Lav couldn't quite grasp why he looked so…

Resigned.

He stepped forward, producing a sheaf of papers to the foreign prince, and handing another to Lav, refusing to look him in the eye as he did so.

He looked down, reading the first paper quickly and feeling his eyelights gutter out as he read the word that confirmed all of his worst fears in that moment.

Betrothal.


	2. Edge of a Precipice

Lav felt like he was on the edge of a precipice, a mere breath from tumbling off the edge and into an abyss the likes of which had never been seen before. His hands were trembling, shaking the paper in his grasp until suddenly, something grabbed onto them, holding him still.

Lav jumped slightly, his eyelights fluttering back into existence as he looked up and into his brother's eyes. They were full of regret, and of pity, and of an overwhelming sadness that Lav felt echoed the feelings in his own soul all too well. He felt an unfamiliar rush of anger flow through him, jealousy and rage sparking up inside him and making him want to smash his brother's face in for keeping this from him, for...for not being the one who had to have their heart broken…

And with that, his negative feelings towards his brother were gone. Out of all the people in this kingdom, or any other, Rogue was the one who understood his pain the most, the only one who could look at him right now and even begin to imagine what he might be going through.

Cerulean hummed as he looked over the bathroom again. He set his sponge aside and straightened, stretching and hearing his spine pop in several places. He shuddered; that sound had always bothered him a bit.

He thought he was finished? He knew Lav wouldn't care if he'd missed a spot or two, but even he had to take a certain amount of pride in his work. He stared down into the tub, looking carefully for anything he may have missed, then shrugged when he didn't find anything. Good enough?

He emptied out the washtub, storing his supplies in the closet before entering the bedroom, looking around for something to do. He'd already finished his chores for the day, and Lav had not yet returned from his classes, leaving him devoid of distractions. He sighed, resisting the urge to throw himself onto the freshly made bed and groan. It didn't matter how many nights he'd spent in it, it wouldn't do for someone to walk in and wonder why he looked so comfortable here.

Almost in answer to the thought, there was a knock on the door before it was flung open with a bang. Cer jumped, spinning around as a voice echoed into the room, sounding very similar to his own.

"Aw, shit! Sorry, Cer! Didn't mean to bang the door like that!"

Cer snickered at his friend, stepping forward and inspecting the wall for any dents that had been left behind. "So you're banging the doors, now, huh? The royal family may object to that, if I'm not mistaken."

Carmine stepped around him and into the room, studying the wall alongside him before breathing a sigh of relief. "I don't think there are many members of the royal family that object to much of anything on that front, as I'm sure you well know."

Cer snickered before he muffled himself with the back of one hand. "Carmine, you can't say these things. You're going to get beheaded."

"I sincerely doubt it, the things I've done for this family." Carmine closed the door, being more careful this time to close it quietly.

Cer gave him a doubtful look. "...like what?"

Carmine shot him a wink, and he snorted again, following the other further into the room and watching his face closely to see exactly what part of his chores he was about to try to fuck up "accidentally".

"I swear to the King that if you mess up that bed, I'm going to Rogue's chambers and wrinkling all of his shirts.

"And I swear if you do anything to make me have to do a moment more ironing today, I will mess up every bed in the castle and blame it on you." Carmine grinned wickedly, then said, "Though it would probably be blamed on your prince."

Cer gave a loud snort, and gathered up some folded towels that sat on a chair near the end of the bed. "How do you feel about accompanying me to the linens room? I need to return these."

Carmine straightened up as tall as he could, putting on his most serious face and offering his arm in a gentlemanly sort of way. "Why, I would be honored. Wouldst thou allow me to escort you?"

Cer snorted. "Fuck off. Let's go."

Carmine laughed as they walked out into the hall, slamming the door shut behind them accidentally.

Lav took the pen that was given him, signing without his usual flourish and refusing to meet the eyes of anyone else in the room, especially his betrothed. He hadn't even considered, not for a moment, of refusing. He didn't have any lasting rebellious thought, no tear-stained threat of his father disowning him hanging above his head to keep him in line.

He was an adult. Despite his rumor-making and his skipped classes, he was the 26-year-old son of the king. He knew as well as any member of the royal circle that their kingdom needed this. They needed this desperately.

It was no one's fault but his own that he had chosen to become a Queen.

"Hey, why aren't you with Rogue, by the way?"

Cer was carefully placing the towels back on the shelves, distracted by the task of doing everything he possibly could not to piss of the laundry maids. They were, in all honesty, scarier than the royal guard.

Carmine handed him the next towel, then shrugged. "That big party from Fell arrived today, and the King required his presence."

"Shouldn't Lav have been made to go, then, too?"

"He probably is there. I know Star was looking for him earlier, but he'd left his classes early, evidently."

Cer snorted. That sounded like Lav, though the fact that he'd shown up at all was something he found hard to believe, despite the lecture he'd received that morning. "He came to his rooms, asking to change into a skirt he was already wearing." He turned back to collect the next towel, only to see Carmine waggling his eyebrows at him, a giant grin across his face. "Shut up, pervert, that was not what happened."

Carmine handed him the last towel with a chuckle, leaning back against the wall and continuing to give him a look. Cer studiously ignored it, stacking the towel and turning to face his friend, frown fixed on his face as he took in the other's appearance. "What?"

"Did you know that commoners having intimate connections with royalty is pretty frowned upon?"

Cer glared at the smiling asshole in front of him, folding his arms and raising a brow. "Did you know that you're a hypocrite? And that you should shut up before someone hears you?"

Carmine opened his mouth, probably to make a stupid pun, but before he could say anything, a voice said, "Hears you what?"

Cer jumped violently, spinning around to see Periwinkle and Byzantium, the laundry maids, walking into the storage area they were currently occupying. Byzantium was currently lugging around a huge laundry basket, sweating slightly under the weight and trying to pretend he wasn't as Periwinkle bounced between the shelves, taking things out of the basket and arranging them carefully. They were both looking at the two of them curiously, Periwinkle's head tipped to one side. He heard Carmine swear under his breath, and, privately, he agreed.

"Before someone hears him talking about how adorable you are, Peri." Cer said, shooting the other a small wink and ignoring the annoyed look Carmine was giving him.

Periwinkle clasped his hands under his chin, his eyes transforming into stars as he gasped. "Really?!"

At the same time, Byzantium rolled his eyes. "Bullshit," he muttered, pointedly ignoring the look Periwinkle shot him and adjusting his grip on the basket. "Can we finish shelving?"

"Princess."

Lav bowed, keeping his eyes cast down and doing his best to avoid meeting the eyes of his betrothed. He didn't want to see him. He didn't want to look up and see the red and imagine a flash of blue in their place.

"Prince. Welcome to our kingdom. I hope to be able to know you more in the days to come."

The words felt like sandpaper, dragged out of his mouth, stinging his unconjured tongue as they scraped by. Lav straightened, still not able to meet the other's eyes, still not able to truly admit to himself that this was to be his...his husband.

"And I you. I trust we will have much time to become acquainted."

He hoped he wasn't causing offense. He knew of the eyes on him in this moment, on them. Every member of the court, every monster from the visiting kingdom, every single one of them were watching, looking for any and all bits of gossip, of rumors, and, in the case of the kingdom of Fell, any excuse to withdraw their Prince from the deal.

Lav straightened his shoulders. He could not be the cause of his kingdom's downfall. He forced himself to look up and meet the other's eyes, the smile he made himself form seeming strained, though he hoped it wasn't obvious.

"I am looking forward to every moment of it."

Jade was looking at a point somewhere over his head, but as Lav's gaze rose, his dropped, seeming to have come to the same conclusion he had. Their eyes met, and Lav felt something pass between them, something pitying at the same time that it was angry. Something understanding.

And as empty as his own soul felt in that moment, it seemed to be almost childish emotion compared to the pure nothingness that this prince held in his own eyes.

"Not as much as I, princess, I am sure."

"Oh, and did you hear the news yet?" Periwinkle gossiped happily, shelving the last of the bedsheets they had brought and turning to look at where Carmine and Cer were now sitting, chins in hand and doing their best to look interested. Byzantium wasn't even trying to hide his smirk at their fate anymore. As used to his partner's gossiping as he was, he had long since learned to tune him out.

After a moment of silence, Cer realized they'd been expected to respond and looked up just long enough to intone, "Nope. What's the news?"

"You've heard of the Fell royal family, right? Of course you have, they're from the country right next to ours, but apparently that visiting group has Prince Jade !"

Carmine and Cer nodded in unison, both already perfectly aware.

"Oh, but of course you know that, you're the manservants to the prince and princess. You must have the best information of any servant in the castle, with the way those two talk! Oh, Cer, you must be drowning under all the excitement!"

Cer raised a brow. He was certainly drowning under something … "Excitement for what?"

"Well, from the princess, of course! He must be ecstatic! Prince Jade is so handsome !" A longing sort of look crossed the other's face, and Carmine let out a small snort of amusement at the offended look that cropped up on Byzantium's face.

Cer swallowed a smile, then looked up in confusion at Periwinkle, who was holding out his hands for the basket from Byzantium. "Princess Lavender has never been one for idle flirtation, despite what the rumors say. Why would he be excited?"

Periwinkle snorted, setting the basket aside and putting his hands on his hips. He gave Cer a look that they all knew he saved for the real troublemakers of the castle, which Cer felt mildly offended by. Carmine was right there, the very picture of a troublemaker, and he was getting The Look?

"Oh, come now, Cer. Don't play like you didn't know. The betrothal, of course!"


End file.
